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Writing to the Senses
Introduction
Writing is life—a calling even. When we put our fingers to the keys or grip the shaft of a pen, we're creating a direct channel between body and the creative self. Writing is a lot like possession.
A few years ago, I decided that I would listen to the writer within. After re-reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, I challenged myself to write morning pages—three pages of longhand text—for the next 100 days. What happened astonished me. I found that I was chock full of thoughts and good ideas. They were just in the caverns of my mind undeveloped. From that notebook, I went from a struggling web designer to a full-time managing editor with a magazine. And it all came from daily free writing.
How I did it
I wasn't looking to create a career out of the 100 day free writing challenge. I was just looking to develop the consistent habit of writing. What happened would change my life forever. s I was writing in my notebook, I had the idea of closing down my business to return to full-time writing. I wasn't sure how i would do it or what my plan would be, but it started to show up in my writing more and more. Finally, the idea of a blog emerged. I looked around Google to see if the idea I had would work in my local area. To my surprise, there was nothing there. I started Pedestrian's Guide to Fredericksburg with the hopes that I could at some point compete with some of the smaller media outlets in the city. I compiled a list of topics and created an editorial calendar in Microsoft Excel. My initial aim was to write every week. As Murphy's Law would dictate, that small challenge turned out to be a larger one when I my lease was altered by my landlord and I was forced to find a new residence. The house we found was thirty-five minutes from the city, making it more difficult to write a blog about the culture and life of it. So I wrote less frequently on the blog for the next 90 days or so. An interesting thing did happen on the in-between. My blog was noticed by the local parenting magazine, Fredericksburg Parent & Family. I was familiar with them. When I first moved to Fredericksburg from Richmond, I was looking for freelance writing opportunity and I was offered a few assignments from the magazine. Those few assignments were parlayed into 18 months of blogging before changes in my life's circumstances grinded my writing pursuits to a halt. It wouldn't be until I started rereading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and applying the principles of the Morning Pages that I would rekindle my love for writing and crave the career again.
In 2012, I walked closely with a group of men. We labeled ourselves the Mastermind. We set upon a journey to reach some goals that we desired more than anything in the world. my goal: to write for a publication again full-time. Within four months, Fredericksburg Parent was on the hunt for an editor. They had a fe prospects, but I had a relationship with the social media manager, the one who noticed my blond months earlier. We had an arrangement to do some man-on-the-street type reporting, but it came to nothing. My interview with the publisher went well and I was offered the position. It was a part time job, but as i have always known, with the right amount of hustle, you can parlay anything.
After there months, I had taken the magazine to heights it hadn't previously seen. I brought in an editorial system that created workflow and organization. The magazine was no longer rushed out and we met deadlines with ease. I pooled together a team of writers and we put together great stories. Advertisers noticed as did the general public. We were being praised for the quality of the content, a direct reflection on me and my work. I was thrilled.
By November, something amazing happened. We were contacted for an interview with a celebrity—Deborah Tillman, the American Supernanny from LifetimeTV. Her PR firm had sent a couple of emails and I finally replied to one of them. The interview was set for the week after Thanksgiving. I could hardly believe it.
The interview went surprising well and within me something clicked, celebrities were regular people. It was no different than talking to my peers. So I began to pursue them. The next one was Rachael Ray, celebrity chef from 30 Minute Meals on The Food Network and then Sabrina Soto, the interior decorator from HGTVCs The High Low Project. I also interviewed Keegan Allen from Pretty Little Liars and met Daphne Maxwell Reid in the next few months. I was on an high and my confidence in my craft was waxing high. My latest interview was with Richard and Kathy Verlander, the parents of Detroit Tigers Justin and Ben Verlander.
Six days before Christmas, my grandmother passed.She had been fighting cancer for the better part of a year. Her death stirred something within me. It made me question myself. I wondered what I was doing. For the better part of four months, I was her caretaker. I sacrificed parts of my career to help her. It wasn't an obligation. It was a choose fueled by love. After her death, I wanted to see where the current would take me if I fully committed to the writing life. I spoke to my wife and decided it was time to leave web design and write.
I started to apply for jobs. The third job I applied for interested me the most. It was for a magazine in a city two hours away. I didn't know much about editing a health magazine, but again, it was the hustle. I edited parenting and sports, it would be like the others. I interviewed twice and was offered the position. My longhand writing in my basement apartment came to fruition. I went from blogger, to pat-time editor, to full-time editing in 18 months. What's next? Here we are.
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Chapter 1: Why You Should Quit Writing
Ok, before you decide to shut the book and throw it in the fireplace or request a refund from your local book seller, let's talk about the definition of a writer. A writer simply is one that writes. Simple enough, right. No. The problem isn't being a writer. There are a to of writers, I'll use the term writers to talk about the profession, but there is another term we need to use to go to the next level in our professional careers—storyteller. A writer reports. They tell what they see and not much more. A story teller digs deeper. They look to bring to light hidden angels, back story and they ask questions that no one else thinks to ask. If you want an example of that, watch Macolm Gladwell talk about Spaghetti sauce on Ted Talks (/http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html.
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Writing isn't about just putting down thoughts and ideas and arranging them. Writing is about composing a symphony in words, about arranging a story where one don't exist. To be a good writer, you have to remain curious. Most journalists are trained to just find the news. Get the scoop, expose some dirt and voila, they've put together a story that is newsworthy, publishable and that only their publisher or editor will want to read. I've lost a lot of respect for journalists over the past five to ten years. The reporting is poorly written, poorly framed and most of the time out of poor taste and platform. People want human interest. They want angles. They want to the untold story beneath the rubble. Yes, we know that 150 people were injured in a 20 car pile up, but is there a story unwritten within the twisted metal? Did something malfunction? Was there someone of particular interest involved that we don't know is interesting. Dig deeper. There is a story in there. Your job is to find it. Make J. Jonah Jamison smile.
Chapter 2: Going About the Task of Writing
Have you ever read a story that you couldn't out down? You can't put your finger on why you have to keep reading outside of the fact that you are sucked in to the story. Something is resonating with you and most of the time, we can't explain it beyond "it's the way he or she writes."The truth is, its more than the writing. There have been plenty of good—no, great—books written that weren't popular or aren't widely read. I believe that a lot of that has to do with the word choices b the writer.
Word choices? I know that sounds odd, but let me explain it to you. Have you ever read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey? While the book is good and has a lot of useful information for living a transformed life, the book falls short in its wiring style. Unless you prefer the academic style of writing, the book will be more difficult for you to pick up. The writing is structured and clean. If you weren't what most consider a good student, you'll avoid the classroom style in which Covey writes.
Consider a moderate example. Have you ever read Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins. Robbins takes a a mixed approach. He's part academic and part conversational. What keeps you reading are his stories. He offers examples of people like you and I who have changed their lives for the better. It sticks because the writing resonates.
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Why Do You Write
It's a legitimate question. Do you have an honest answer? Everyone fancies him or herself a writer, but why? What makes you a writer? Do you need qualifications? Do you even need to be published to become one? We have a lot of misconceptions and misgivings as to what a writer is and what it takes to become a writer. Here's the truth. If you're writing anything, you're a writer. It's not a popular stance because you have those who believe that you ned to be published or that you need to be working within the field to be considered a writer. I disagree. If you passion and a [platform and you're putting your pen to paper or stroking the keys on your computer, you're a writer. Being published is a different story, but embrace the title without shame or fear.
How Often Should I Write?
This is a common question asked by nearly all writers. Frequency is a tricky topic. It really depends on you as a writer. I recommend writing every day. Nothing but good can become of it. It's the repetition and the constant practice that will only strengthen your writing and also build your word count. Writing is certainly more than word count, let's not focus on that too much. So the next question is probably what should I write? If you don't already have a topic or a subject, then i recommend Julia Cameron's Morning Pages from The Artist's Way. What she recommended was three longhand pages each morning. From there, you will get locked in toy your thoughts and with time and writing regularity, you'll expose the true identity of your writing and now which direction you should go in to. That's what helped me. Writing prompts can also help. Here are a few websites that offer daily writing prompts:
- Writers Digest: http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts
- Creating Writing Prompts: http://creativewritingprompts.com/
- Poets & Writers: http://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises
These sites will keep you writing for as long as a year. I believe that after writing for a year on prompts that you'll know what you want to write. Another site to explore is National Novel Writing Month. Commonly referred to as NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org), this writing event will show you what you're made of as a writer. you've given a 30 day time limit to produce a 50,000 word novel. As of this writing, I have been unsuccessful with NaNoWriMo, my first attempt was an 18,000 word short fall. It did teach me a lot about writing and word counts and how I could rapidly produce content when under the dureess of a deadline, which i will share more about in the chapter about online writing. I recommend to anyone who wants to be a better writer to try out NaNoWriMo. It will make you sharper.
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What Tools Do I Need to Get Started?
A writer needs tools to write. It wasn't so difficult many years ago, ok, 100 years ago when your choices were slimmer. You just needed a pad and pen and a typewriter. Now, you have a lot of great and wonderful tools to choose from and they all have their place depending on which type of writer you want to be or what style of writing works best for you.
I started writing as a youth. I stated with a pen and pad and graduated up to a typewriter. I remember getting my first typewriter for Christmas and writing sports briefs after watching football games on Sundays with my dad. As I grew up, I learned to use computers and with the evolution of smart phones, my writing started to become easier to do on the go.
Writing is often idealized and romanticized. It's easily mistaken for something you have to be all in or all out for. But writing in the modern era is a different thing all together. Writers now have full time jobs. Maybe you're an engineer by day and a writer by night, you could be a grocer from 9-5 and a crime mystery writer from 7-midnight. The writing life is what you make it. You have to make the effort to create the time and create discipline. Many of my writing friends, myself included, go to a coffee shop like Starbucks to write. Others find creative conclave in libraries, bookstores, and some grocery store cafes. As a writer, it's rare to have the writing desk by the window with the oil burning. For many who work full time, that ideal setting does not exist. Stephen King worked in a laundromat while he wrote. Kurt Vonnnegut worked at GE. One thing you can't do os make excuses. You are a writer, that means you write. Do it as often as you can and you'll find that ideal life gets closer.
My Tools:
Some writers have writing nooks and dedicated writing spaces. I have teetered between the two. There are times I enjoy writing in my nook, but I mostly prefer writing at my kitchen table. I use a MacBook Pro as my primary writing computer and I write in Evernote (www.evernote.com). Evernote allows me to write from any computer or smart phone at any time. It has a syncing function that keeps all of my writing current.
Here are tools available to writers that you maybe want to give a go:
- Microsoft Word/Google Docs: I've lumped all of these in together because they're all word processing programs. While each has its own strengths and weaknesses, all word processors have the same basic features—writing, editing, viewing. These also track word counts for writers needing to keep track of those. My favorite strength of Google Docs is the ease of sharing and the ability to use it on a mobile and have it sync online. My favorite strength of Microsoft Word is the review and editing capabilities and tracking changes. Google Docs is a free program that you can access through the Google Drive when you sign up for a free email account with Google at www.gmail.com. Microdoft Word is a subscription based software. You can purchase Microsoft Word separately or as parrt of the Office suite at any retailer or at www.Microsoft.com.
- Evernote: I've been using Evernote for a couple of years. As I mentioned before, the ability to sync notes on any commuter or device makes it desirable. It features tagging for easy cataloging and notebook features for creating sections or chapters, or completely separate books. Evernote also gives you the power to shoot video and take photos, so that you don't miss inspiration as it happens. I've used all of these features and they have helped tremendously. It also has a great search feature that you can use to scan documents for words or phrases that you have written and can't remember which.
Chapter 3: Word Economy
Chapter 4: No Such Thing as Blocks
Chapter 5: Improving Writing
Chapter 6: Fluff & Nonsense
Chapter 7: Sight Words
Chapter 8: Scent Words
Chapter 9: Sound Words
Chapter 10: Taste Words
Chapter 11: Touch Words
Chapter 12: Social Media
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